of the people she works with and keep themactively engaged in her work. Because she hasa long-standing relationship with the Kayapócommunity, she is able to keep them informedabout her studies and work with them todesign next steps and studies.”Zanotti’s work inspires a broad rangeof students. Some might think that with sofew openings for a unique experience, theopportunity would only be open to advancedanthropology students, but Zanotti welcomesundergraduates from any field of study,particularly because of what they can bring tothe table: new ideas and ways of thinking.

“There are a diversity of perceptions out
there. Students see things that I don’t see
anymore. It’s great to be reminded of that
newness,” Zanotti says.

But the relationship works both ways.
Even for students who don’t plan to pursue
anthropology, Zanotti hopes they walk out of
the rainforest with new perspectives on their
own future work and studies. “They have
this experience to draw from, to learn about
cultural diversity as they move through their
personal and professional lives,” Zanotti says.

From the abstract to the lived

Rosy Garibay took the field methods courselast summer. A photography major withminors in anthropology and Native Americanand indigenous studies, she left the rainforestwith an appreciation for how the Kayapó live.“They’re so successful at just living,” Garibaysaid. “They’re very pleasantly living in theenvironment they’re in, and now that’s allat risk.”Ingrid Carolina Ramón Parra, a doctoralstudent in anthropology working withZanotti, says a difficult thing to grasp aboutthe Kayapó is that even though they’re sofar away, they’re not so different from thestudents and researchers who visit.

Immersion Techniques CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

“You really feel how exclusive and special
the place is when you take that trip. They have
their own language and a way of life and that’s
different from ours, but at the same time,
there are many meaningful ways that the
students can connect to the Kayapó,”
Parra says.

Parra says the Kayapó sense of humorsurprised her on her trip last year. Womenwould convince younger students to smellsomething, then tell them that they hadbecome pregnant from doing so. And once theKayapó women trained the female studentsfor a dance as part of a village celebrationand sent the students forward, promisingstudents got in front of everyone, they foundthemselves alone only to turn back and see theKayapó laughing.

That’s the sort of thing Zanotti wants
to reinforce on the trips. The world is large,
complex, and everchanging, but people have
so much in common no matter where they
live. “This field school is really to challenge
those assumptions that the Amazon is this
faraway place that doesn’t have communities
of people,” Zanotti says. “It goes from the
abstract to the lived.”

By Brian Wallheimer.

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A Kayapó resident relaxes prior to a ceremony that students and community members participated
in together to mark the end of the course. Kayapó peoples consider the red body paint or urucum as
beautiful when applied to the ankles and feet, and according to anthropologist Terry Turner, the red
symbolizes life and vitality. Photo by Palmer Durr.